Just another reason I am glad I never changed…….
My permanent residence. Even though I spent decades away from home, first in the service, and then later spending about 80% of my time traveling for work after leaving active duty, I kept my permanent residence in the Capital/Saratoga Region of New York State. This includes spending the last eight years of my professional career maintaining a residence in either Pennsylvania or South Carolina, I still never changed my legal residence from New York State. There have always been too many legal reasons to remain a New York State resident.
Now here is just another example of why I am glad I did so:
June 10, 2026
A Message from Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie
Dear Dallas,
In recent years, school libraries have increasingly become targets of organized efforts to restrict access to materials based on viewpoint, identity or political disagreement. These efforts are often framed as concerns or protections, but in practice they are a form of censorship, meant to remove certain ideas or experiences from shared public spaces.
That’s why the Assembly Majority passed the Freedom to Read Act (A.9537-B), which requires school boards to adopt a written policy for handling complaints about school library materials. That policy must establish a reconsideration committee that includes a librarian, a teacher, an administrator, a parent, and, where possible, a student. Materials under review would stay on the shelves and remain available to students while the review is pending. Under the legislation, removals could not be based solely on disagreement with the ideas, viewpoints or identities represented in a work. Policies must also include processes for providing notice of the right to appeal a decision to a school board and the State Commissioner of Education.
By passing this legislation, we affirm New York's commitment to intellectual freedom in public education by protecting students' access to ideas and ensuring that challenges to school library materials are handled through a clear, fair and transparent process.
This bill was also passed by the Senate and will be sent to the governor for her consideration.
Thank you for taking part in the legislative process. Your participation helps me to better serve our state.
Sincerely,
Speaker Carl E. Heastie